A local organization and church have organized a Jan. 11 forum on homelessness, and the public is invited to attend.
The forum will start at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. It’s been organized by the Trinity Out-Reach Center of Hope (TORCH) and the church.
A press release said the forum will bring together experts from social service agencies, faith-based groups, and the wider community for a frank discussion about homelessness that will include the definition, faces of homelessness, an exploration of potential solutions, and ways that people can be involved in the Jan. 24 “Point In Time Count” (PITC).
“In a community where we don’t see people begging on street corners or sleeping under bridges or in store fronts, it may be difficult to comprehend that a homelessness problem exists,” the press release said. “Adding to the misconception of the issue is that the tragedy of homelessness lies as much in what we don’t see as much as what we do.”
The release said experts agree that the primary causes for homelessness in Anderson County are job loss, a lack of affordable housing for the “working poor,” low incomes, unemployment, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
Here is more information from the press release:
While many envision the homeless as unkempt people looking for a handout or pushing a shopping cart loaded with all of their belongings, the truth is that social service agencies and educators know that the face of homelessness is much different than society’s stereotypes. Many times the face of homelessness is the face of a child whose family is sleeping in their car who tries very hard to never let anyone know their true situation. There are whole families who are suffering the full complement of the physical, emotional, and financial traumas of homelessness.
With a mission to invest in and support the holistic transformation of the economically disadvantaged in our community as they pursue self-sufficiency, TORCH aims to address the gaps in services within our community and to be a conduit to ensure that resources are reaching the demographic groups that need them most. For the homeless, many times that means letting them know about services and resources for which they are eligible and assisting them in accessing those resources.
TORCH Executive Director Zabrina Minor said the organization will lead the Jan. 24 Anderson County “PITC,” an annual requirement of Congress and the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Data is obtained at the local level and aggregated at the national level, Minor said. She said the national data is used to set national agency priorities and determine fund allocation to state and local communities.
“It is important that we get an accurate count in order to receive the funding needed to address issues in our area,” Minor said.
There is no cost to attend the Jan 11 forum. Refreshments will be served. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Minor at (205) 873-4547.
The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike, stoplight #11.
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